I'm really leery about the idea of buying a machine with a Thermoblock in it, like the Silvano.

The reason being is that if your water is hard, scale will build up on the inside of the thermoblock. Eventually, if it gets thick enough, it will act as an insulator and cause the thermoblock to overheat. Since a lot of thermoblocks don't have a high limit trip, the heating element will burn out.

So, from a reliability standpoint, I would personally stay away from thermoblocks.

I'm speaking from my knowledge involving the steam generator found on LG washing machines, they're quite prone to failure after a few short years of use. They work on the same concept.

However, If you use softened water all the time with it, it's not a big deal.

From what I can tell, Rocket does make high quality machines. They're all handmade.

Bezzera has a huge offering in the market which you are describing. Something like the BZ07 or the BZ10 will meet your needs and your pricing. However, if you can spend that little bit more and get the Magica, do so.

Good luck!

Garbage In, Garbage Out, for every step of the process. From Beans to grinder, grounds to machine, coffee to cup.

Still shopping,which is not unusual for my hyper-compulsvie personality ;-). However I think I've narrowed the choices a bit (primarily based on budget).

Rocket Cillini

Quick Mill QM67

I'm wondering if anyone has strong feelings about these two machines. The choice seems to be between a dual boiler PID Quick Mill, or, the HX Rocket. Do wither of these machines have a better reputation of the build quality, reliability front? My personal style preference is the Rocket... It just seems a little more polished, but I'm not sure if that makes up for the practical advantages of the Quick Mill.

Hi I have recently been through the decision process and my final choices were Rocket Celini, ECM Giotto and Quickmill Anita.

I did not consider any double boilers. My reasoning for not wanting to go double boiler is I want my espresso water heated fresh and not left in a boiler for some time being heated and reheated many times before making an espresso. I am sure others will challenge this point, but it is my reasoning.

So that meant I was only choosing between HX machines. The QM, ECM and Rocket were are similarly spec'ed and in the end my decision came to aesthetics. As someone mentioned to me here on this forum a machine like this is likely and has the potential to be in your kitchen for a few decades, get the one you like how it looks.

So I opted for the rocket as I like the layout, it has quality controls and the panel work is very tidy.

In the end as I will be moving house again and again I might come across times where I can plumb in so I opted for the evo V2 with rotary pump that supports plumbing and black dials. The black dials are sexy. just dont tell my wife how much I spent on it ....

After 20 bazillion shots of espresso, my nearly 20 year old Rancilio Silvia has died. While are many new machines on the market, due to the incredible longevity of old my Silvia, it is hard to not simply buy another Silvia. However I am also looking at a Pasquini Livietta T2. Please share your opinions. All advice is welcome.

If you were happy with your Silvia, why not fix her up? She is a simple machine and new parts are available. What happened? BTW if you decide not to repair her, there is a good market for broken silvias on eBay.

I've done some research on myself, this is a bit of a myth. Most brew boilers are fairly small and the water will get cycled through the boiler without any impact to the taste of the coffee. The water in the reservoiris probably more prone to affecting the taste in your coffee than what is in the brew boiler. I make tea at work from water which has been reboiled and I can't discern any change in flavor from fresh water.

Every vendor I've spoken to tells me that when you are getting into higher end prosumer machines, that's pretty much it. The feature set is fairly similar and it's mostly aesthetics at this point in time.

smasha Said:

in so I opted for the evo V2 with rotary pump that supports plumbing and black dials.

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